On This Day: President Barack Obama greets baseball fans during a Washington Nationals vs. Chicago White Sox baseball game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., June 18, 2010 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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Today (All Times Eastern)

10:0: Live from the First White House Makers Faire

10:45: President Obama views “Maker Faire” projects devoted to using science and technology to advance business, South Lawn

11:30: Delivers remarks at the White House Maker Faire, East Room

12:15: Meets with economists for lunch, Roosevelt Room

12:45: Jay Carney briefs the press

3:0: The President meets with members of the Congressional Leadership

5:10: Meets with Secretary of State Kerry

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President Barack Obama and Press Secretary Jay Carney disembark from Air Force One upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Wednesday night, June 17, 2014. It was Carney’s last flight on Air Force One as White House Press Secretary. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

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The Week Ahead

Thursday: The President will award Corporal William “Kyle” Carpenter, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry.

Friday: The President will meet with Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand.

NYT: Obama Is Said To Consider Selective Airstrikes On Sunni Militants

President Obama is considering a targeted, highly selective campaign of airstrikes against Sunni militants in Iraq similar to counterterrorism operations in Yemen, rather than the widespread bombardment of an air war, a senior administration official said on Tuesday. Such a campaign, most likely using drones, could last for a prolonged period, the official said. But it is not likely to begin for days or longer, and would hinge on the United States’ gathering adequate intelligence about the location of the militants, who are intermingled with the civilian population in Mosul, Tikrit and other cities north of Baghdad. Even if the president were to order strikes, they would be far more limited in scope than the air campaign conducted during the Iraq war, this official said, because of the relatively small number of militants involved, the degree to which they are

dispersed throughout militant-controlled parts of Iraq and fears that using bigger bombs would kill Sunni civilians. At a meeting with his national security advisers at the White House on Monday evening, the official said, Mr. Obama was presented with a “sliding scale” of military options, which range from supplying the beleaguered Iraqi Army with additional advisers, intelligence and equipment to conducting strikes targeting members of the militant group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Much of the emphasis at the meeting, the official said, was on how to gather useful intelligence about the militants. They are not wearing uniforms or sleeping in barracks; and while there may be periodic convoys to strike, there are no columns of troops or vehicles.

Ahmed Abu Khattala was always open about his animosity toward the United States, and even about his conviction that Muslims and Christians were locked in an intractable religious war. During the assault on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, Mr. Abu Khattala was a vivid presence. Witnesses saw him directing the swarming attackers who ultimately killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. Afterward, he offered contradictory denials of his role, sometimes trying to say that he did not do it but strongly approved. He appeared to enjoy his notoriety. Captured by military commandos and law enforcement agents early on Monday, Mr. Abu Khattala may now help address some of the persistent questions about the identity and motives of the attackers.

The thriving industry of conspiracy theories, political scandals, talk show chatter and congressional hearings may now confront the man federal investigators say played the central role in the attack. On the day of the attack, Islamists in Cairo had staged a demonstration outside the United States Embassy there to protest an American-made online video mocking Islam, and the protest culminated in a breach of the embassy’s walls — images that flashed through news coverage around the Arab world. As the attack in Benghazi was unfolding a few hours later, Mr. Abu Khattala told fellow Islamist fighters and others that the assault was retaliation for the same insulting video, according to people who heard him.

(Dislike the title. Intriguing article.)

President Obama’s climate speech Saturday got plenty of press for its lengthy assault on global-warming denial. But what excited an aggressive wing of the climate movement were just a few cryptic words elsewhere in the commencement address at the University of California (Irvine): “You need to invest in what helps, and divest from what harms.” Activists pushing universities and other institutions to dump their financial holdings in coal and oil-and-gas companies believe they heard an unmistakable White House endorsement.

“People are thrilled about it,” Jamie Henn of 350.org, one of the groups leading the divestment movement, said of Obama’s comments Saturday. “Students will be taking the president’s message to their college presidents and boards of trustees,” he said of the fossil-fuel-divestment campaign, which also includes the Energy Action Coalition, the Responsible Endowments Coalition, the Sierra Student Coalition, and groups on specific campuses. The founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben, a high-profile climate activist, has been a major divestment advocate.

NYT: U.S. Defends Prosecuting Benghazi Suspect In Civilian Rather Than Military Court

Conservative lawmakers on Tuesday sharply criticized the Obama administration’s decision to prosecute the suspected leader of the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, in the civilian criminal justice system, arguing that he should be questioned and tried by the military. The White House quickly pushed back. “Some have suggested that he should go to Gitmo,” said Caitlin Hayden, a White House spokeswoman. “Let me rule that out from the start.” “We have had substantial success delivering swift justice to terrorists through our federal court system,” she added. Greg Doherty, the brother of one of the attack’s victims, Glen A. Doherty, said he supported the decision to try Mr. Abu Khattala in a civilian court. “I think that’s what we should do with criminals, which is try them,” he said.

The Obama administration has sought to close the Guantánamo prison and refused to send newly captured prisoners there, instead using federal courts to prosecute terrorism cases that arose after Mr. Obama took office. The military commissions system, which the Bush administration established and Congress revised in 2009, has struggled. Appeals courts have vacated the convictions of the only two Guantánamo detainees who were tried for war crimes before a military commission — as opposed to pleading guilty without a trial and giving up a right to appeal — because of flaws that would likely not have been a problem in civilian court.

Daily Beast: Why Delta Force Waited So Long To Grab A Benghazi Ringleader

The mission to capture Ahmed abu Khatallah, one of the ringleaders of the September 11, 2012 attacks on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya was more than a year in the making. In the months leading up to the raid, teams from the Army’s 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or Delta Force, practiced the extradition on a mock-up of abu Khatallah’s compound at Fort Bragg, according to a U.S. military contractor familiar with the planning for the mission. Eventually, it was a Delta Team with embedded FBI agents on Sunday that snagged the man wanted for the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens, State Department officer Sean Smith and CIA contractors Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. The Obama administration has come under withering criticism because the whereabouts of abu Khatallah have been generally known.

But other U.S. officials, who spoke to The Daily Beast anonymously because they were not authorized to talk to the press, said the mission to grab abu Khatallah had been planned for more than a year. Indeed, the Benghazi ringleader had been in the sights of Delta Force operators at the end of August, according to these sources, but no order was given at the time. A senior administration official told The Daily Beast that the delay in apprehending the suspect was due in part to requests from the Justice Department to gather appropriate evidence to prosecute him in criminal court. The practice and patience paid off, apparently. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday’s raid resulted in no casualties. “Khatallah currently faces criminal charges on three counts, and we retain the option of adding additional charges in the coming days,” said Attorney General Eric Holder in a statement Tuesday.

At least six locations in three different states, including New York, entered official bids by Monday’s deadline in an effort to house Barack Obama’s presidential library. Columbia University, where Obama got his undergraduate degree, pitched a West Harlem site.
Four of the confirmed bidders are from Chicago, the president’s hometown, and a fifth was expected. Obama’s birth state of Hawaii also offered an oceanfront location in Honolulu.

While the Obama Foundation, which is planning the library, declined to confirm the bids it has received, planners for the six widely reported potential locations all confirmed they had submitted proposals. All see the library and museum as a potential driver of economic development. The University of Chicago cited a study it commissioned that concluded the library would draw 800,000 visitors a year and create 1,900 permanent jobs.

If you were asked to identify a single moment that best captures the failure of elite media outlets to act as agents of accountability, you could do worse than David Gregory asking Paul Wolfowitz on “Meet the Press” this weekend what we should do, “as a policy matter,” to deal with the deteriorating situation in Iraq. Wolfowitz, as deputy secretary of defense from 2001 to 2005, was one of the chief visionaries and supporters of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. And he got just about everything wrong, from the cost of the war to the presence of WMD. And he doesn’t particularly care. In an interview with the Sunday Times last March, Wolfowitz made the argument that even though they got it wrong on WMD in 2003,

everything they said was happening (but wasn’t) would likely have happened later. “We would very likely either have had to go through this whole scenario all over but probably with higher costs for having delayed, or we’d be in a situation today where not only Iran was edging towards nuclear weapons but so was Iraq and also Libya.” What price did Wolfowitz pay for his part in the biggest American foreign policy disaster of that last generation? George Bush nominated him to the presidency of the World Bank. While at the World Bank he violated ethics rules and caused a scandal that paralyzed the institution. He was forced to resign after governments around the world called for him to be fired.

Travis Waldron: In Landmark Decision, U.S. Patent Office Cancels Trademark For Redskins Football Team

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has canceled six federal trademark registrations for the name of the Washington Redskins, ruling that the name is “disparaging to Native Americans” and thus cannot be trademarked under federal law that prohibits the protection of offensive or disparaging language. The U.S. PTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued a ruling in the case, brought against the team by plaintiff Amanda Blackhorse, Wednesday morning. “We decide, based on the evidence properly before us, that these registrations must be cancelled because they were disparaging to Native Americans at the respective times they were registered,” the board wrote in its opinion.

“The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board agreed with our clients that the team’s name and trademarks disparage Native Americans. The Board ruled that the Trademark Office should never have registered these trademarks in the first place,” Jesse Witten, the plaintiffs’ lead attorney, said in a press release. “We presented a wide variety of evidence – including dictionary definitions and other reference works, newspaper clippings, movie clips, scholarly articles, expert linguist testimony, and evidence of the historic opposition by Native American groups – to demonstrate that the word ‘redskin’ is an ethnic slur.”

Bonus

On This Day

President Obama walks with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi backstage at a Democratic fundraiser in Washington, D.C., June 18, 2009 (Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

President Obama meets with Senior Advisors in the Oval Office in the White House, June 18, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama (background in Oval Office) chats before a lunch with members of the press in his private dining room, on June 18, 2009 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama listens to Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office for Health Reform, in a meeting on health care reform in the Roosevelt Room in the White House, June 18, 2009. From left: OMB Director Peter Orszag, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, DeParle, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (Photo by Pete Souza)

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After playing a round of golf, President Obama has a drink with Vice President Joe Biden, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, at Joint Base Andrews, June 18, 2011 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama walks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton following a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the Esperanza Resort in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico, June 18, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)

President Obama talks with Chief of Staff Jack Lew at the Esperanza Resort in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico, before the start of a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, June 18, 2012 (Photo by Pete Souza)

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President Obama waits with advisors before a bilateral meeting during the G8 Summit at the Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 18, 2013. Pictured, from left, are: Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs; National Security Advisor Tom Donilon; President Obama; Rob Nabors, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy; and Caroline Atkinson, Special Assistant to the President for International Economic Affairs (Photo by Pete Souza)

First Lady Michelle Obama with Sasha and Malia during a visit to Glendalough in the Wicklow Mountains National Park in Ireland, on June 18, 2013.

President Obama walks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada on the grounds of Lough Erne Resort during the G8 Summit in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 18, 2013 (Photo by Pete Souza)

Chuckie’s such an idiot! Like Ed Henry – I don’t get how *they* don’t get how ridiculous they sound/look when they showcase their ignorance so shamelessly and so publicly. Each time I happen to see one of these two in action, I imagine their children cringing at their stupidity. Of course, I don’t know IF they have children. :grin::grin::grin:

So true. If only we could just get back to the basics of journalism in this country. It’s embarrassing and criminal what passes for journalism these days. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to post this important link again.

Principles of Journalism

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1. Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth

Democracy depends on citizens having reliable, accurate facts put in a meaningful context. Journalism does not pursue truth in an absolute or philosophical sense, but it can–and must–pursue it in a practical sense. This “journalistic truth” is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Then journalists try to convey a fair and reliable account of their meaning, valid for now, subject to further investigation. Journalists should be as transparent as possible about sources and methods so audiences can make their own assessment of the information. Even in a world of expanding voices, accuracy is the foundation upon which everything else is built–context, interpretation, comment, criticism, analysis and debate. The truth, over time, emerges from this forum. As citizens encounter an ever greater flow of data, they have more need–not less–for identifiable sources dedicated to verifying that information and putting it in context.

Foreign Journalist Advocates Criticize Fox Reporter’s Suggestion That Military Should Pose As Journalists

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Kevin Smith, Society of Professional Journalists ethics committee chair, said such an approach hurts journalistic credibility and safety.

“There are two obvious reasons. On the first hand you don’t want the military or police agencies or anyone like that impersonating journalists because that puts journalist in harm’s way,” he said. “Every journalistic organization when they find out about this opposes it. It raises doubt when a journalist is in a volatile situation, it raises questions about whether they are journalists and puts us in harm’s way.

“The second reason is the ethical situation,” Smith added. “Journalists shouldn’t be in a situation where they are hiding their identity. That suggests to me that they don’t even understand ethical responsibility. It is an illogical question that certainly suggests you do not understand the dynamics of what it takes to be a journalist in a war zone.”

When I heard Rosen had asked that question I was dumbfounded. If I had been in Psaki’s shoes (I think I spelled that correctly), I would have laughed in his face and said, “That is a joke question right? After all no serious journalist would ask that question.”

japa21 that question stopped me in my tracks. I could not believe he actually asked that question out loud. It was incredibly revealing and stupid. But it was true to form because every question James Rosen asked was accusatory and dripping with sarcasm.

Interesting how the msn.com home page rarely has anything about President Obama except for the occasional negative headline.. today they have a major headline in connection with little Chucky’s poll… and sub-headlines with quotes from Cheney. Now its one thing to put out a poll that is basically all horsepucky- but to try to bolster it with comments from Cheney about “this Presidency”… is LOL crazy. Who’s running msnbc.. oh that’s right REPUBLICANS.

Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) holds a 4-point lead over state Sen. Joni Ernst (R) in the race for U.S. Senate in Iowa, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday.

The poll found Braley leading Ernst 44 percent to 40 percent among registered voters. That’s tighter than a previous Quinnipiac poll published on March 13 which found Braley leading Ernst 42 percent to 29 percent.

The new Quinnipiac poll also found Braley with a wide 11-point lead over Ernst among women voters. Forty-seven percent of women said they backed Braley while 36 percent said they backed Ernst. Meanwhile 44 percent of men surveyed said they backed Ernst while 40 percent said they backed Braley.

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Note Friends, It is the Quinnipiac. That means…..The Dem is leading by a Huge Margin.

I have been wondering lately how many so called “journalists” are actually failed actors/talk show hosts; etc. Meaning how many of them began their ‘careers’ on a game show/ commercials/ in some fashion ‘acting’ and how many actually graduated from university with a journalism degree. Their need (talking cable) to always be the ‘star’ .. to one up this President, their envy of him.. has me questioning.

Greg Sargeant on NBC/WSJ POLL
” HOW ABOUT SOME CONTEXT HERE, FOLKS? Some commentators are looking at Obama’s 41 percent approval rating and declaring he is “dangerously lose to failed presidency territory” or that the public is saying “your presidency is over.”

Sure, Obama’s low approval matters a good deal in the context of the midterms, where it could put the Senate at real risk, particularly if it remains this low. But come on, this isn’t any milestone. The big picture is that the averages show Obama isn’t even at an all time low — he’s at just under 45 percent — and meanwhile, in Gallup tracking going back to 2009, Obama’s approval has hit 41 percent or below a half dozen times in the last five years.

Also: I’m so old that I can remember when Obama’s approval fell to 41 percent in WaPo polling nearly two months ago, which everyone declared a disaster, before going strangely mute when it rose back up to 46 percent in WaPo polling a month later. Come on, people.”

“Sure, Obama’s low approval matters a good deal in the context of the midterms, where it could put the Senate at real risk, particularly if it remains this low.”

While Sargeant is questioning the media’s interpretation of the poll (and rightfully so), I say we need to take it a few bold steps further, and question the poll itself!!! The media is treating PBO’s numbers as an absolute when that in and of itself is problematic. The polling climate in the age of Obama is so warped – thanks to the GOP and the media, that these so-called approvals do not accurately identify the public sentiment about the President or his job performance. At a time when a GOP house majority leader suffers an astonishing defeat in primary election, when not a single mainstream media poll identified him as being remotely close to losing his seat, we HAVE to push back forcefully and directly on the validity of these polls and stop trying to even spin them into any kind of redeemable context. We have to question the methods and methodology, we have to question the samples used; We have to question the financial sponsorship of these polling outfits; We have to question the honesty of the respondents, and we have to demand more transparency in the administration of the polls and computation of the numbers. Because it DOESN’T add up.

I’m waiting for the honest or brave analyst to point this out – because so far no one that I know of in the media has done close to that.

hf2, your point is important. I wrote a short piece on the previous post using our family as an example of what I see as the vast problems in polling which result in errors. It had to do with generations and landlines v. cellphones.
If the majority of polling is done with landlines still, about the only people I know who still use landlines are over 60 or 65, and retired white folks, like us. My two children and their spouses, all in their forties, use only cells. They only answer if they want to talk to whoever is calling. We have a landline, and only answer those we want to. If it is an 800 or 888 number, or private caller, or unavailable out of area, we do not answer. Therefore, we never get polled. Our four children are rabid PBO supporters, but they won’t be polled either. I KNOW these polls are inaccurate.

Someone with the knowhow needs to do an honest investigation of polling.

Indeed carolyn. I read your earlier post about the cellphoone vs landline, and that resonates with much of what many others have been posting on Twitter – that many people, particularly the cellphone users, rarely answer their phones unless they know who’s calling. The majority of people who support PBO tend to be working people, younger people, women, minorities – people who are busy, whether it’s at a job, looking for a job, at school, or taking care of kids – and they are not sitting at home in front of Fox News waiting for their land-line phone to ring.

More than that HF2, this poll and the timing of its release is political propaganda, pure and simple. The hyper commentary concerning this one poll is extremely questionable (I mean how much should one read into a single poll). To suggest that a single poll result that is not that different from prior results somehow indicates the end of a Presidency is outrageous in it’s stupidity. Such commentary also acts as if PBO did not just catch the ringleader of the Benghazi attack. Surely bringing a leader behind a terrorist attack that is still in the news and the subject of hearings in DC will render this poll’s results “stale”. This poll and the hyperbolic pimping of its results are designed to limit any rise in the polls PBO may see (it is also designed to keep up GOP morale in the face of reality making them look stupid). The msm/gop strategy for 2014 appears to be entirely media and propaganda centered. Their plan seems to be based on a theory that if PBO/Dems lose every 24 hour news cycle, the GOP will win big in the Mid-terms. Personally I think such a plan will fail because increasing numbers of people are tuning out the corporate owned “news” media. The increased desperation of the msm/gop to bring PBO down has served to unmask the true nature of country’s media (it is the communications arm of the GOP). But that seems to be their strategy. As a result, we have the big networks refusing to give PBO primetime to tout ACA success, John McCain on every channel bashing the President with no push back, blackout of PBO’s foreign trips, the coordinated media attack on a POW in an effort to harm PBO politically, a parade of GOP war criminals on all the Sunday shows (treated as sage experts and not traitors who lied us into an unjust war) telling us how “weak” the President is and now some bogus poll released the day after the capture of a terrorist (which happens to make the GOP look very bad and petty after the terrorist stated it was the video that inspired the attack, effectively debunking years of msm/gop/fox conspiracy theories). It is going to be one crazy summer as the msm goes into overdrive depressing democrats and protecting the gop base from the reality of PBO’s greatness.

WOW…Eric, I wish Chips or NW or LL or someone could front-page your comment, because it so perfectly summarizes EVERYTHING we’ve been seeing in the media these last few months and will be seeing going forward as the midterms draw near.

THIS IN PARTICULAR:

“The msm/gop strategy for 2014 appears to be entirely media and propaganda centered. Their plan seems to be based on a theory that if PBO/Dems lose every 24 hour news cycle, the GOP will win big in the Mid-terms.”

And yes I agree with you, that their little plan will not work as more of the public becomes aware of their GOP-sponsored propaganda.

I thought this was a beautiful article about ‘leadership’ that may relate to all the neocon people spouting off about Benghazi, the Iraq situation, etc. They think of themselves as leaders, PBO is a leader. I think this article says there is to say about leadership.

“But all the titled lords and ladies of that Heritage panel were wrong and Saba Ahmed was right. She may not have some aggrandizing title, but she stood up and spoke truth. They declared themselves to be leaders. She led.”

Good Morning Chips, our wonderful Nerdy W., and my loving Danny. Thanks Nerdy for another beautiful day of delicious photos that give so much joy to the beauty of this Presidency. {{{{{{{{{{{{ Love you dearly, Nerdy W.}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Now, Chips do I need to send over a few great attorneys, judges, and even the best PDs to fight for my grandson’s future? I have only to pick up a phone, and they will certainly come at my request. My grandson is taking a lot of smack about the whereabouts of a Brush? Is that true? Well, I hope that we can settle all of our family business within the family with Danny’s well being at the center of all of this.

Chips, I think that Danny may need a vacation to a lovely resort where there will be no distractions such as those that I have seen thrown at my precious grandson here at TOD. Just saying.

Granny has lots of play space for her grandson and very well mannered friends for him to get to play with while on his vacation. Chips, you are invited, but there will be written, signed, sealed restrictions of love prepared by the TOD Family Attorney before we sail. Okay with you, my beautiful angel? Let granny know soon. Love you, my beautiful angel. HZ

GM, my precious sweet spirit, Layla. I know that Danny would love to whisper into granny’s ear and give me the secret. Yes, we would have so much fun. Layla, I think that I would spoil him so that Chips would probably never let him visit granny again, you think? No, granny would not do that to Chips.

POTUS was in ND just last Friday and Today, Wed…..June 18th……. my guess, POTUS was possibly made aware in ND by 26 Native Americans that 8 yrs ago, they had filed against Washington NFL team for their so called name……Their Slur name be revoked by the Patent Office?

I see a connection. And today, the Revocation is complete. Hmm? I absolutely <3 it.

Good Luck NFL and Co appealing and fighting the growing Public Opinion of this matter.

Just saw a graphic on FB that ended with “Not my circus. Not my monkeys.” Every time I look at CNN for as short a time as possible, and what they “cover,” I think of a carnival act. Especially their missing plane coverage. Pathetic people over there. Unfortunately, they breed.

Washington, DC (June 18, 2014)—In conjunction with today’s 27th hearing on the Affordable Care Act held by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings issued a Fact Sheet with new data collected from insurance companies participating in Affordable Care Act exchanges.

Over the past several months, Republican staff on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have been contacting health insurance companies participating in the Affordable Care Act exchanges to request data about initial enrollment projections, as well as actual enrollment since October 1. Although there are problems with the methodology they used, several conclusions can be drawn from the data provided by insurance companies to date.

Overall Enrollment Exceeded Projections

Thirteen insurance companies provided the Oversight Committee with data on projected and actual enrollment. The new data obtained by the Committee shows that actual enrollment exceeded insurance company projections by 4.0%. This result was achieved despite significant challenges with federal and state websites. The data provided by these insurance companies already removed individuals whose plans were canceled because they did not pay first-month premiums.

It took only a couple of wingnut senators shouting “Boo!” to get Democratic politicians to sell out ACORN or Move On. It is time for the political elite in the country to force the choice, once and for all. It is time for the people who care about this country to shun these people, and the politicians who empower them, and the media superstars who pander to their worst instincts, and to the political ideas that have proven themselves to be, over and over again, the most dangerous in the country’s history. It’s time for Boehner, and Priebus, and entire Republican political apparatus publicly to renounce secessionism, and nullification, and the idea that we are now — or are dangerously on the brink of—tyranny, if the word has any meaning at all.

I think serious push-back is warranted in certain cases and this was one of them. The media has done quite a bit of damage selling lies to the American public. Ignoring doesn’t always work – and while we can point and laugh at the Chuck Todds, we also help to EDUCATE the public as to what is really going on.

And therein lies the rub. The press can’t stand the fact that President Barack Hussein Obama makes the Bush/Cheney administration look like amateurs (and criminals). No amount of noise or shiny objects can distract from the fact that President Obama is getting stuff done and leaving the GOP in the dust.

Over the past three decades, Congress has conducted a major experiment in anti-poverty policy. Legislators have restructured benefits and tax breaks intended for the poor so that they penalize unmarried, unemployed parents — the modern day version of the “undeserving poor.” At the same time, working parents, the aged and the disabled are getting larger benefits.

Legislative changes in three major programs have driven these shifts.

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There has been a redistribution away from single parent families and to married parent families,” Robert A. Moffitt, an economist at Johns Hopkins University, declared in May in his presidential address to the Population Association of America, the text of which he provided to The Times. In addition, Moffitt told the group, “there has been a redistribution from those at the bottom of the private income distribution to those above it, including those up to 200 percent of the poverty line, which has led to greater inequality of government support within the low income population.”